Copyright © 2020 Kaizer Wolf

Innocent Devil's Harem | Chapter 8-1: My Hot Housemate Brought Home a Guy?!

Serenity was home early, standing outside the house next to the dead deer, and she wasn’t alone. There was a guy with her, crouched over the corpse and examining the arrow intently. Although, I wasn’t really worried about them thinking the deer was more than what it seemed.

I was fully transformed due to Gabriella’s teasing!

Shit!

With my head now almost in Gabriella’s lap in the passenger’s seat, I tried to process the situation.

I was safe for now, confident that I hadn’t been seen, but I had to think fast. I couldn’t look normal when I was this anxious, and especially not with my head where it was! Her scent was overwhelming this close! To the point that I felt like my head was swimming in her intoxicating aroma!

Gabriella’s tone was urgent. “I’m sorry! What do we do?”

I tried to grasp for anything. ‘Wait! Mailbox!’

“Check the mail,” I instructed in a much calmer voice than I felt. “Even if there’s nothing there. I just need a few seconds.”

Gabriella glanced behind us at the mailbox, just a dozen feet away from where we’d abruptly stopped, before responding. “Okay, I’ll try to take my time. Look at my phone or something, as if I got a message.”

I nodded, prompting her to open the door, climb out, and close it behind her.

Now alone in the car, I tried to focus my thoughts, taking a few deep breaths. Gabriella’s potent scent still permeated the air, but I’d been around it all day, which helped a little. However, that alone wasn’t enough to allow me to focus, prompting me to begin talking to myself.

“Calm down. Deep breath. No one saw me. They were both looking at the deer. Everything is fine. Just chill out!”

Catching the sound of a bird in the trees, muffled slightly by the glass windows, I focused on its singing, homing in on its feathers rustling as it moved, while continuing to breathe evenly, my anxiety finally settling down.

Taking a final deep breath, and checking my hand to verify my skin was its normal shade, I slowly sat up to see that Gabriella was stopped halfway on her way back to the car, focused intently on her phone as promised. Of course, she didn’t have any mail – if we had any, then I was sure Serenity would have gotten it.

Gabriella finally glanced up, noticed that I’d returned to normal, and then hurried back to the car.

“Sorry,” she whispered the moment she closed the door.

I shook my head, beginning to drive slowly down the driveway. “It’s alright. You didn’t know. Although, this is kind of why I can’t take chances like that.” I paused when I smelt her scent become tainted with guilt again, glancing to see the same look in her emerald eyes. “Hey, I love you,” I whispered.

“I love you too,” she replied almost inaudibly, still sounding sad.

“Hey, now,” I said gently, my tone endearing. “We’ll just have to be more careful next time. And you need to act normal around them, or else they’ll know something is wrong. So, don’t beat yourself up about it. It’s okay. Really. Let’s just focus on making dinner together.”

A small smile tugged at her full lips, the guilt disappearing. “Right. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Me too,” I agreed as I pulled up next to Serenity’s blue car. However, now that I had a chance to process the situation more, with my most pressing emergency over, I finally registered that my housemate had brought a guy home.

What the hell?!

Of course, this wasn’t the first time she’d brought a coworker by for dinner, but never a guy!

Shit!

Surely, she wasn’t interested in someone out of the blue? Did she decide to date all of a sudden because she knew Gabriella and I were interested in each other? Did she think something like ‘my young friend is dating, and about to be out of high school, so maybe I should move on in the romance department too?’

The thought alone made me jealous, irritated, and a little depressed, though I knew I had to play it cool, since obviously I shouldn’t even care that much. Not to mention, we were trying to cover up a murder, and that definitely came first!

Stolen novel; please report.

When we got out, I recalled that I hadn’t mentioned the deer to Serenity yet, so I decided to act surprised. She was already looking at me now.

“Hey Ren, what happened here?” I asked seriously, trying to keep the edge out of my tone.

Gabriella glanced at me, only to quickly take my lead, also looking surprised and confused.

“Hey, Kai!” my housemate said cheerfully. She then held up her hands as she shrugged. “Dunno. Looks like a hunter must have gotten a deer or something. It must have happened just after you left for the mall, because it already kind of stinks. I was just trying to call you, to let you know about it, when you pulled in.”

“Wow,” Gabriella chimed in. “That’s pretty crazy.”

The guy who had been crouched over the deer stood up then, prompting Serenity to introduce him. He had dark skin, short curly brown hair, and dark eyes. Overall, he had a very easy-going vibe about him, though it might have just been because he looked exceptionally tired.

“Oh, and this is Nicholas,” Serenity explained. “He just moved here, so I decided to invite him over for dinner.”

Shit. This couldn’t be happening. Did my housemate really like this guy?

Serenity immediately gave Gabriella an apologetic look. “He’s actually on the case for the man who saved you, but he promised not to ask any questions about last night.”

The person in question spoke up then, his tone reassuring. “Right, I’m not here on business. And you can both call me Nick. I don’t usually go by my full name.”

Dammit! Serenity was intentionally calling him by his full name?! Shit!

“Nice to meet you,” I said evenly, attempting to avoid being rude. I didn’t inherently have a problem with him and would have been fine under different circumstances, but knowing that he wasn’t ‘here on business’ was actually worse than the opposite.

I then focused on Serenity, that edge finally leaking into my voice. “Although, it would have been nice to know you were having company over.” I quickly tried to recover, focusing on Nick. “Not that you aren’t welcome,” I lied in a more convincing tone. “My best friend just almost never has anyone over.”

Could I call her that? My best friend?

I mean, she was my best friend, since forever, as well as my only friend, but still…

“Kai!” Serenity exclaimed, her cheeks turning rosy. “You make it sound like it’s a big deal.”

Dammit! I was an idiot!

“Uh, right,” I agreed. “Definitely not the first time you’ve had a coworker over for dinner. Just wasn’t expecting it, is all, since Gabriella is over.”

Serenity suddenly looked a little ashamed, seeming uncertain of how to respond.

However, Nick chimed in again, before the conversation could get any more awkward, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. “Want me to help you pull this into the trees?”

I nodded, looking at Gabriella. “I guess do you want to pick out what you want us to make for dinner?”

“Sure,” she replied happily, having no idea I was distressed about my friend’s unexpected date. She then continued when Serenity gave her a confused expression. “We were going to make dinner together. Figured it would be fun.”

“Oh! Sounds good!” Serenity agreed, motioning for Gabriella to follow her inside.

I proceeded to walk over to the deer to grab a leg, avoiding the guy’s gaze entirely. I knew I had to keep my cool, but I was in no way happy about this situation. I wasn’t ready for my older friend to move on, and now that she’d brought a guy home, I suddenly realized I might not be able to ‘deal with it’ like I assumed.

Granted, I suspected that my recent experience with Gabriella had some influence on me there. Previously, I’d been a virgin, but now that I’d lost my virginity, I found myself not wanting Serenity to have that kind of experience with another guy, even if it would allow me to live vicariously.

I mean, sure, it was possible she’d slept around and I’d just somehow missed it, but as far as I knew, she was still a virgin too. Granted, she’d been casually dating someone before all our parents passed away, so it was possible she wasn’t as inexperienced as I assumed, though she hadn’t dated since then. Still, with my overly sensitive nose, I felt confident I’d know if she’d done something…assuming she didn’t shower right afterward…

Dammit, now I really wanted to know if my friend was a virgin or not!

And either way, I really didn’t want her to move on right now. I wasn’t ready! I wasn’t sure I’d ever be ready!

Shit!

With my fingers grasping one of the deer’s hind legs, I was about to begin dragging it alone, only to stop myself at the last second, realizing it would probably be suspicious if I didn’t need the help. After all, while I was toned, I wasn’t sure I looked strong enough to drag it by myself.

Nick grabbed the other leg just a second later, and we both began tugging it into the trees.

“How far do you think we need to go?” he asked after a moment, seeming as if he was helping progressively less and less as we went.

I cleared my throat. “Well, coyotes will probably find it tonight, so the further, the better.”

Damn, it felt like he wasn’t even helping anymore. Granted, the guy wasn’t massive by any means, being about average size, but he didn’t look weak either. Maybe it was just because he was sincerely tired? The dude looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

It was also possible he was out of shape too.

By the time we’d dragged the corpse a good distance away from the house, I was confident he wasn’t helping anymore, just keeping his hand on the leg for show.

Whatever.

Didn’t need his help anyway.

Satisfied that we’d gone far enough, we finished dumping it and began walking back to the house in silence.

Nick tried to start up a conversation after a few dozen steps.

“Well, that was fun. You must work out,” he commented.

I shook my head, not wanting to lie about it and get found out later. “I’m pretty active, but I don’t lift weights or anything.” I paused. “I do run sometimes though,” I added. “I’m sure that helps with my endurance.” I glanced over my shoulder, seeing that the deer was almost out of sight. “Kind of weird though. We’ve never had that happen before.”

Nick nodded in agreement. “I almost wonder if someone actually shot it right there in your front yard,” he said, only to continue when I gave him a confused look. “It’s just that, there wasn’t a trail of blood leading to that spot, and it looked like the arrow pierced the heart, which would have caused an instant death.” He paused. “Although, it would then make you wonder why the hunter left it there.”

I tried not to seem too shocked that he’d been so observant. After all, I had to remember that he was a detective, and looking for clues was his job – something that had likely become a habit, even when he wasn’t working.

Of course, there wasn’t a trail of blood, because I didn’t shove the arrow into its heart until it was laying directly over the blood from the cop serial killer, who tried kidnapping Gabriella earlier that morning. My goal in waiting was to ensure a ton of blood covered that spot.

Copyright © 2020 Kaizer Wolf